Machine for driving linear objects



\ 5Sheets-Sheet l R. F. KNIGHT El AL MACHINE FOR DRIVING LINEAR OBJECTS Filed Aug. 25, 1954 March 31, 1936.

March 31, 1936- R. F. KNIGHT ET AL MACHINE FOR DRIVING LINEAR OBJECTS Filed Aug. 23, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 31, 1936. R. F. KNIGHT ET AL 2,035,551

MACHINE FOR DRIVING LINEAR OBJECTS I Filed Aug. 25, 1934 r 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.3]

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March 31, 1936. R G T r L 2,035,551

MACHINE FORDRIVING LINEAR OBJECTS Filed Aug. 25, 1934 s sheets-sheet 4 WI/ENTQHE March 31, 1936.

R. F. KNIGHT ET AL MACHINE'FOR DRIVING LINEAR OBJECTS Filed Aug. 25, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m/E/v UE 5. QQDFLEF 4 Patented Mar. 31, 1936 iJNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR DRIVING LINEAR OBJECTS Application August 23, 1934, Serial No. 741,110

14 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for driving linear Work pieces, such as nails, tacks, dowels and the like, and the illustrated embodiment thereof is a machine of the type shown in the application of Frank T. Gentile, Serial No. 637,735, filed October 14, 1932, to which reference may be made for details not exhaustively explained herein.

The machine shown in the Gentile application is intended for driving polygonal lining tubes into holes extending perpendicular to the top-lift faces of wood heels. These tubes serve to hold the shanks of replaceable top lifts. The Gentile machine comprises a hopper and a raceway for feeding the tubes, and a transfer member for receiving the tubes from the raceway and moving them to driving position.

It is an object of the present invention to effect certain improvements in the machine shown by Gentile, while sacrificing none of its advantages.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, we have provided an organization of raceway, transfer member and detent or detaining member, such that all the tubes in the raceway except the lowest one are detained until that lowest one has been received and removed by the transfer member. Preferably, also, and in accordance with a second feature of the invention, the transfer member itself acts as a closure for the raceway, and supports the lowest (undetained) tube until the transfer member has come into position to receive that tube. Thus any tube is either completely in or out of the transfer member at any time, and danger of clogging is minimized.

The illustrated machine is automatic and provided with a clutch which may be tripped to start the driving operation, and in accordance with another feature of the invention it is provided that the clutch shall not be tripped until the transfer member has reached driving position,

thus avoiding danger of jamming the mechanism.

Other features of the invention relate to a novel agitator member and to a device for pre- 4 venting clogging of the work pieces at the entrance to the raceway.

These and other features of the invention comprising certain combinations and arrangements of parts will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the left side of the ma- 55 chine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the hopper mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the heel supporting table;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the clamp member;

Fig. 6 is a rear View of the transfer mechanism just after reception of a tube;

Fig. '7 is a rear view of the transfer mechanism just after movement to driving position;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section of the transfer mechanism showing the indenting tool;

Fig. 9 is a broken-away detail showing a tube and driver in position in a heel just before removal of the driver; and

Fig. 10 is a cross-section on the line X--X of Fig. 9.

The main frame It has a column [2 in which the horizontal journal for the main drive shaft [4 is mounted. This shaft carries the main drive pulley l6 driven by a belt l8 from a motor in the lower part of the machine. The pulley l6 idles on the shaft l4 and is connected to it when desired by a one revolution clutch mechanism I9 operated by a treadle rod 20,

The pulley I6 is integral with a smaller pulley 22, which consequently drives whether the clutch is operative or not. pulley 24 and shaft 26, which, by a bevel gearing at 28, drives an eccentric 30 having a connecting rod 32, which operates the hopper mechanism.

The hopper 34 is mounted on a rib 36 bolted to the column l2. A shaft 38 is mounted in the rib 36 below the hopper. The shaft 38 carries a crank arm 46 and two tight pulleys 42, 44, which are belted and cross-belted, respectively, to two pulleys 46, 48 on a shaft 58 extending into the hopper 34. The pulleys 46, 48 are loose on the shaft 50 and are frictionally clutched to it by two right and left coiled springs 52, each having one end fast to a collar 53 on the shaft 50, and having their other ends wound tightly around, but not fastened to, the hubs of the pulleys 46, 48. Thus the pulleys 46, 48 drive the shaft 50 in one direction only, i. e., that in which friction tends to wind up the springs. When the rod 32 rises or falls it turns one or the other of the pulleys 46, 48 in the driving direction, and thus keeps the shaft 59 turning intermittently in the clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1. The shaft 50 carries a spider 56 which thus rotates intermittently in the hopper and keeps the tubes therein stirred up.

The pulley 22 drives the curvature of the elevator 60 is in the axis of the shaft 38. The oscillation of the rod 32 oscillates the elevator 60 through a slot 6| in the bottom of the hopper so that at its extreme upward position its beveled end 62 comes to a position 62' in line with the end of the raceway 64, and so that at its extreme lower position it forms a bottom for the slot into which tubes may fall. The elevator 00 and the raceway 64 lie flat against the side of the hopper 34 and both are beveled at 60 to form a channel down which the triangular tubes may slide with one of their fiat sides vertical. The member 60, at each oscillation, picks up one or two tubes and delivers them to the end of the raceway, this end being open at the top of the triangular channel.

In order to assist in the proper alinement of the tubes and to clear the raceway, a kicker member 66 is provided. This is a flat member extending through a slot 61 in the side of the hopper 34 just above the raceway. It is pulled out of the hopper by a spring 68 and is swung into the hopper by an arm 10 which has a slotted connection I2 with the arm 58. The member 66 is swung into the hopper, or upward, in Fig. 3, as the member 60 descends. It displaces the tubes that are lying askew on top of the raceway and tends to throw them parallel to the raceway into which they will fall if there is an empty space there, or to throw them off if they do not so fall.

A spring stop member or detent I4 is fastened to the upper surface of the raceway 64 near its lower extremity, and has a bent tooth I6 at its lower end extending into a slot in-the top of the raceway 64. This tooth rests upon the next lowest tube in the raceway and normally holds it and all the others above it from falling into the transferring and driving mechanism. The member I4 is adjustable along the raceway to enable it to handle tubes of different lengths.

The transferring mechanism is seen from the rear in Figs. 6 and '7. It is mounted in a block I8 on the front of the column I2. It comprises a cylinder mounted in a cylindrical hole in the block I8 and having a 60 V-shaped notch 82 in its back face. The diameter of the cylinder is at least as great as the length of the longest tube used in the machine. This notch, together with the back plate 83, which forms the rear part of the block 13, constitutes a triangular channel a trifle larger than a tube. The cylinder 80 has a notch 84 cooperating with a stop 80 to define a vertical position of the channel or notch 82 (Fig. 7) in which it registers with similar holes in the top and bottom of the block I8 and an oblique position (Fig. 6) in line with the raceway. The cylinder is moved from one of these positions to the other by a crank arm 88, operated by a link whose upper end is connected to a crank 92 on a shaft 94. The shaft 94 is operated to pull the notch 82 to vertical position by a rod 96 connected at its upper end to another crank arm on the shaft 94 and at its lower end at 91 to a crank arm 98 on a shaft I00, integral with another crank I02 which has a resilient connection at I03 with an arm I04 loosely mounted on the shaft I00 and operated by the treadle rod 20. The clutch rod I9 is operated by the arm I04. The cylinder 80 is thrown into oblique position by a spring I06 on the shaft 94.

Depression of the treadle therefore throws the notch 82 into vertical position, so that a tube I08 in the slot drops into driving position on a resilient dog IIO. At the same time a lug II2 on the arm 88 swings against the stop I4 and lifts it off the tube II3, allowing it to fall against the side 1 of the cylinder 80, where it rides, while the catch I4 drops on to the next tube II4 (Fig. 7). The lug H2 is'adjustable, on the arm 88, to an inoperative position where it will not strike the detent or stop I4. This enables the operator to turn the machine over without clogging it with tubes. The detent I I0 is slidable under pressure of a spring II 6 on the front of the block I3. Its V notch is beveled a little at the top to permit the descending tube, when driven, to crowd it forward to allow the tube to pass.

The tube is driven by a driver, in the form of a triangular plunger I I8, arranged to enter the tube being driven, with a shoulder to limit such entry, and with a slot I20 in its rear face to receive that part of the tube that is struck up by an indenting tool I2I. This construction is the same as in the Gentile application above referred to. The driver I I8 is mounted in a block I22 sliding up and down in a guideway in the column I2 and is operated by a lever I24 having a pivotal link connection I26 with the column I2. Its rear end is connected by a link I28 with a crank pin I30 on the shaft I 4.

The indenting tool I2I is spring-pressed back out of operative position, and is driven into the side of a tube in the cylinder 80 just before the driver begins to lower the tube by a cam I3I attached to the shaft I4 which strikes the rear end I32 of the indenter I2I.

The heel supporting means comprises a table I34 vertically adjustable at I35 and angularly adjustable about an axis I36, and having a gage member I38 adjustable laterally and longitudinally of a heel I40 on the table, by two clamp screws I42, I44. The table I34 is resilient and pressure on the heel forces it down until the heel drops on to fixed teeth I46, as described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,895,106, granted January 24, 1933, on the application of H. W. Russ. The table I34 receives the heel I40 with its attaching face downward. The top-lift end of the heel is held by a presser member I48 pivoted at I50 on the column I2 and having an arm i52 which is pulled by a spring-pressed rod I54, which thus tends to hold the presser member I48 down on the heel.

The pressure member I48 is shown in detail in Fig. 5. It carries on its lower face an adjustable U-shaped gage I56 with a beveled lower edge, opposite'which is a second gage I58 for engaging the breast edge of the top-lift end of the heel, likewise beveled at ISI and pivoted at I60 on an adjustable block I62. Its operative edge IBI is thrown downward by a leaf spring I64.

The member I48 is lifted by a link I66 attached to the lever I24 and is pressed down on the heel by the spring-pressed rod I54, as the driver IIB begins to descend.

In operating the machine the operator places a heel I40 on the table I34, as shown in Fig. 4, and

steps on the treadle. The cylindric transfer member 80, which already has a. tube I08 in it (Fig. 6), is turned to the Fig. 7 position and a tube H3 is released to fall against the cylinder by the treadle movement as the clutch is tripped. The lever I24 rocks, and the presser member I48 descends on to the heel, the members I56, IBI camming down on the top-lift end of the heel I40. The driver descends, enters the tube I08, supports it against the thrust of the indenting tool I2I, and drives it into the heel I40, and is then retracted and the machine stops. Meanwhile the member I48 rises and releases the heel I40, and the transfer memher turns back to its Fig.6 position allowing the tube H3 to fall into it as shown at I08 in Fig. 6, the tube H4 (Fig. '7) being held by the detent 14.

The relative movements of the treadle rod 20, the clutch rod l9 and the transfer operating rod 96, which are necessary to enable them to perform their functions, are such that if the transfer member is not turned sufiiciently to aline its notch 82 with the driver, the clutch will not be tripped. The resilient mechanism at IE3 will reach its limit of movement unless the transfer operates properly, and further descent of the arm I04 to throw the clutch is prevented.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for driving work pieces, a raceway along which the work pieces are advanced, a transfer member movable at the end of the raceway and having a passage for alinement with said raceway and a surface by which delivery from the raceway is stopped, and a retaining member for engagement with a work piece spaced in the raceway from the transferring member by an amount substantially equal to the length of a work piece.

2. In a machine for driving work pieces, a raceway along which the work pieces are advanced, a transfer member movable at the end of the raceway and having a passage for alinement with said raceway and a surface by which delivery therefrom is stopped, a retaining member for engagement with a work piece spaced in the raceway from the transferring member, and a driver movable in the transferring member passage.

3. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, a. hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper and arranged to convey the linear work pieces end to end, a movable transfer member arranged, in one position, to receive a work piece from the raceway and to move it into driving position, a detent arranged to act upon that work piece that is approximately the length of one work piece from the lower end of the raceway, to prevent that work piece from moving through the raceway, means for releasing said detained work piece after the work piece below it has been removed from receiving position by the transfer member, whereby the heretofore detained work piece may fall into position to be received by the transfer member upon its return to receiving position, and a driver for driving a work piece out of the transfer member when in driving position.

4. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, an inclined raceway, a transfer member movable between receiving and driving positions and having a channel which is collinear with the raceway when the transfer member is in receiving position, said transfer member being arranged to block the end of the raceway when it is not in receiving position and to support a work piece in the end of the raceway at such time, and a detent arranged to detain the work piece in the position next above that of the supported work piece in the raceway at all times except for a time after the transfer member has moved from receiving position and has consequently blocked the raceway, during which time the work piece theretofore detained fails to the end of the raceway and rests on the blocking surface of the transfer member, and after which time the detent engages the next work piece above the previously detained work piece.

5. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper and arranged to handle the linear work pieces end to end, a movable transfer member having a work piece receiving passage arranged, in one position, to be a continuation of the raceway and to receive a work piece therefrom and in another position to hold a work piece in driving position, said transfer member being arranged when in driving position to block the end of the raceway and to detain the ultimate tube-therein, a detent arranged to detain the penultimate work piece in the raceway from the time that the ultimate work piece falls on the transfer member to the time that the transfer member has again blocked the end of the raceway after receiving the ultimate work piece, and means for then releasing the penultimate work piece from the detent, to permit it to fall against the blocked end of the raceway, whereby the antepenultimate work piece becomes the penultimate work piece and is detained as before.

6. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper and arranged to handle the linear work pieces end to end, a movable transfer member arranged, in one position, to receive a work piece from the raceway and to move it into driving position, a detent arranged to act upon that work piece which is next behind that work piece in the raceway that is next to be received by the transfer member on its next return to receiving position, a driver, a clutch for connecting it to a power device, and an operator-controlled member for operating the clutch and for moving the transfer member from receiving to driving position, the mechanism being so arranged that the movement of the transfer member to driving position must be completed before the clutch is thrown into operation, whereby damage to the driver due to striking an improperly positioned transfer member is avoided.

7. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper and arranged to handle the linear work pieces end to end, a movable transfer member arranged, in one position, to receive a work piece from the raceway and to move it into driving position, a driver, a clutch for connecting it to a power device, and an operator-controlled member for operating the clutch and for moving the transfer member from receiving to driving position, the mechanism being so arranged that the movement of the transfer member to driving position must be completed before the clutch is thrown into operation, whereby damage to the driver due to striking an improperly positioned transfer memher is avoided.

8. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper and arranged to handle the linear work pieces: end to end, a movable transfer member arranged, in one position, to receive a work piece from the raceway and to move it into driving position, a detent arranged to act upon that work piece which is next behind that work piece in the raceway that is next to be received by the transfer member on its next return to receiving position, a driver, a clutch for connecting it to a power device, a manually operated member for operating the clutch and for moving the transfer member from receiving to driving position, the mechanism being so arranged that the movement of the transfer member to driving position must be completed before the clutch is thrown into operation, and means actuated in consequence of the movement of the manually operated member for releasing the detent after the transfer member has moved from receiving position, to drop another work piece into receiving position.

9. In a machine for driving linear work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper and arranged to handle the linear work pieces end to end, a movable transfer member arranged, in one position, to receive a work piece from the raceway and to move it into driving position, a detent arranged to act upon that work piece which is next behind that work piece in the raceway that is next to be received by the transfer member on its next return to receiving position, a driver, a clutch for connecting it to a power device, a manually operated member for operating the clutch and for moving the transfer member from receiving to' driving position, the mechanism being so arranged that the movement of the transfer member must be completed before the clutch is thrown into operation, and means operated by the transfer member in moving from receiving to driving position, to release the detent to drop another work piece into receiving position.

10. In a machine for driving work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper, an elevator for lifting work pieces to the end of the raceway, and a kicker member movable transversely of the raceway and arranged to move work pieces that may be delivered on to the raceway in misalinement.

11. In a machine for driving work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper, an elevator for lifting work pieces to the end of the raceway, and a kicker member arranged to enter the hopper above the raceway as the elevator descends,

and to move transversely of the raceway to move work pieces that may be delivered on to the raceway in misalinement.

12. In a machine for driving work pieces, a raceway, a rotatable agitator cooperating therewith, an oscillatory driving member, connecting means for communicating to the agitator movement of the driving means in one direction, and other connecting means for communicating to the agitator the movement in the opposite direction.

13. In a machine for driving work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper, a rotary member for agitating the work pieces in the hopper, a shaft on which said rotary member is mounted, a loose pulley on the shaft, a coil spring having one end connected to one of the two elements just mentioned and frictionally engaging the other, and means for driving the pulley in the direction in which friction will tighten the unfastened end of the spring around that element on which it is wound, to drive the agitator member.

14. In a machine for driving work pieces, a hopper, a raceway fed by the hopper, a rotary member for agitating the work pieces in the hopper, a shaft on which said rotary member is mounted, two loose pulleys mounted on the shaft, each pulley being connected to the shaft independently of the other by a coil spring wound tightly around, but not fastened to, one of the members so connected, and fastened to the other said member, and means for oscillating the pulleys simultaneously in opposite directions, whereby the shaft is driven always in the same direction.

RALPH F. KNIGHT. IRVIN M. REID. 

